“You think back to when you were kids and what you could do,” said Vin Riley.
“I used to love sport at school – cross country running was my favourite – so coming here is great.”
Vin goes to the weekly Sporting Memories group that meets at Northallerton Library in Yorkshire, with his wife Chris.
He is one of the scores of people aged 50 and over across the country that is living with dementia.
Reliving the past, to live the present
Sporting Memories is one of the projects we funded that supports older people living with dementia, depression and loneliness.
Each week, the programme works with these people and their loved ones, stimulating and encouraging them to relive their memories about sports.
By sharing memories of sporting moments and tapping into a passion for sport, they help people to connect with others and with their past, reawakening positive thoughts and feelings that otherwise remain hidden away.
Taster sessions
Vin and Chris have been going to the group since it started in 2016. It's since grown to more than 30 members.
They tried out various sport taster sessions at the group and have made many new friends.
Vin particularly enjoys playing darts with the other men in the group, which gives Chris time to socialise with the other wives, whose husbands also live with dementia.
Our investment supports Sporting Memories, via Active Ageing, as it aims to promote physical and mental health, and reduce loneliness and social isolation, for older people.